Arlington, Texas — kilian mbappe He was questioning his manager Didier Deschamps’ approach and tactics after France’s 2-0 defeat to Spain in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday.
The result ended France’s hopes of reaching a third consecutive World Cup final, with Mbappe scoring no goals and finishing the tournament with eight goals – tied with Argentina. Lionel Messi Golden Boot for the lead.
spain midfield general rodri There was momentum throughout the match as the reigning European champions, who have now beaten France three times in a row, got the better of Deschamps’ team who had been dominant in their first six matches in North America.
“In midfield and against Spain we were three against two, it’s difficult,” Mbappe said after the game. “Fabian [Ruiz] And Rodri had plenty of playing time. There was a lack of communication in the press. I think we should have pressed on from one person to another and forced them to come with us.”
Mbappe also scored eight goals in Qatar four years ago, where France lost the final to Messi and Argentina in a penalty shootout. Eight years ago, France won the World Cup by defeating Croatia in Russia.
However, France were disappointing in every phase of the game on Tuesday, which Mbappe acknowledged with his tactical analysis. They never found a foothold in the game, especially after Spain had complete control mikel oyarzabal After this the scoring started from the penalty spot. lucas digneis dishonest Lamin Yamal.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted to, technically and tactically,” Mbappe said. “When you don’t do what you have to do in a World Cup semi-final, you can’t win. Spain respected their game plan and what teams usually do. They like to control the ball and the pace. Our plan was to put more pressure on them so they couldn’t establish their rhythm.
“Because they are better than us at controlling the game. We didn’t manage to do that. We were too weak technically. We couldn’t hurt them when we could.”
But the Real Madrid star also highlighted the mistakes made by players when Spain succeeded in getting the ball back from France, despite losing possession of the ball.
“Even when we got the ball, our first touch wasn’t good enough. That leads to defeat. It’s a big disappointment. But if we’re objective, we didn’t have all the ingredients to go to the final,” Mbappe said.
Deschamps tried to turn the game around with substitute players in the second half – starting Adrien Rabiot On break and bring on Desiree Douay and later Manchester City attacker Ryan Cherki – but neither switch had any impact on the result.
Cherky said after the game, “I don’t know what to say. They were better than us in every part of the game and they were hungrier than us.” “It’s sad because I still believe we are a better team than them, but Spain were better than us this afternoon. Even on an off day, we have to be a little better technically, tactically, in desire.”
“In many ways, France was missing everything today. Literally, everything was missing today. We’ll be back in four years, and we won’t make the same mistakes.”
The frustration reached its peak for Mbappe, 27, when he went on in the 86th minute. unai simon As the Spanish goalkeeper was bending to take the ball. The two clashed, resulting in Simon being sent to the grass and Mbappé receiving a yellow card.
“Being captain I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that,” Mbappe said. “We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t.”
France will play the loser of Wednesday’s semi-final between Argentina and England in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.